One year ago we went to Vancouver to pick up my Great Grandmother and her daughter Dixie and took them up to Seattle, WA to stay with my Aunt Gaylene for spring break. We like to go out at least once a year to visit with Grandma and this year Allie decided that she was going to spend her birthday in Washington with her Great-Great-Grandma and Aunt Gaylene. We had a great time going to the Seattle Aquarium, the Children’s Museum at the Space Needle, shopping, eating out and on the last day we went to a wonderful Doll Museum. Even though Grandma Hackett was 99 years old she came along with us and never complained. We made her use a wheel chair on the long days which she did not like because she is so sweet and independent but she trooped along and never complained. On a couple of the evenings my mother and I set the video camera and interviewed great-grandma. She modestly told us all about her life while we sat and anticipated our favorite stories from when she was a little girl. We had a great time and I will never forget all the many trips we took to visit our beloved grandmother over the years. In February we went to Vancouver to visit Grandma Hackett one last time for her 100 Birthday. We got into town on Friday night and a wonderful visit with her. She came over to see with the whole family at the Hotel (between everybody we had almost 20 hotel rooms). She had a great time meeting all of her new great-great grandchildren that had been born this year. She kept saying “I am so proud of my family.” After visiting at the hotel Jairo and I took the kids over to grandma’s to spend some more time with her. Grandma and her daughter Dixie, have a huge mini click collection, so every year when we go out to visit her the girls like to find there favorite clocks and count how many they have. They also love to look at all of the old pictures of their ancestors and listen to stories of their heritage. The whole house is covered in breakable items so trying to keep Ryan contained is a little nerve racking but grandma always seemed to calm my nerves with her loving laugh and smart wit. Ryan kept going over to grandma to tell her that he loved her with a light hug and a pat on her legs. We had a great time and will never forget all of the wonderful memories and life lessons we got from our beautiful Great-Great Grandma Hackett.
The following day just 30 minutes before her big birthday celebration was to begin we got a call that that she had an accident and was only able to make her party by spirit. After prayer we spent the day the way grandma would have wanted us to, at her party remembering her and celebrating her life. My girls are having a hard time with grandma's being gone, but the peace I feel knowing she is part of our eternal family comforts me. She no longer has pain in her body and has been reunited with her loved ones on the other side. I am sure she is able to watch over us more closly now which makes me want to be a better wife, friend and mother like her. Me, not being a person that lets out much emotion will leave it at that with a excellent tribute my mother wrote for our Grandma.
She was a dynamic figure, a mathematical genius, and candy lovers everywhere swoon over her paper thin peanut brittle and fancy milk chocolates creams. She was a private citizen, yet she had a worldwide fan club. Children trust and adore her.
She was born February 10th 1909. She was the mother of four children, and lays claim to 8 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren, and 16 great-great grandchildren.
She could tat tablecloths and hem dishtowels faster than a whole factory of Taiwanese slave laborers.
She is so good looking that her beauty radiated through a phone line and made a man fall in love with her at the mere sound of her voice, asking her to be his wife.
Her extraordinary cooking talents have earned her fame throughout the great Northwest. In her younger years she could bake 40 pies, whip up a double batch of strawberry jam, and have dinner on the table by 5pm.
Her laugh is contagious and her wit extraordinaire. She can warm an entire room with the beauty of her smile.
She sews, she tats, she bakes, she laughs, and compared to all the other Grandmas of the world she rules the universe.
Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, she once single-handedly defended 3 small children from a swarm of ferocious army ants. Later, she bested that feat when saving the same children from a rattlesnake at an Oregon rest stop.
Years ago she discovered the meaning of life, but refuses to write it down, challenging the rest of us to discover it for ourselves. She has made extraordinary four course meals using only a spatula and a toaster oven. She is a master gardener, and a world champion food canner.
She was known to lead large groups of relief society women through difficult obstacles with unflagging speed for over three decades. She has always given her all to the church and then squeezed out a little bit more to make sure she no one was left behind.
She is an expert in cake decorating, a veteran of love, and has been rumored to have stolen the heart of the former Price Charming of South Dakota.
She once read her grandchildren Pollyanna, Little Women and Nancy Drew all in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire living room that evening. She knows the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. She has seen two world wars, a great depression, the advent of the automobile, the airplane, radio, TV, and watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon, and by now she has probably talked to Elvis.
She was born in a time when there was no penicillin and when not everybody had indoor plumbing. She knows how to pluck a chicken, but I’ve never seen her do it. She’s worn high button shoes and attended a one room school house. She survived the a year long bout of rheumatic fever.
She has always been active in her church and cultural affairs, as well as being a devoted wife, mother, and most important to me, the kind of grandmother who gave you all the love you needed and then a pinch more to grow on.
Not a day of my life goes by that I don’t think about how much I loved my Grandma and what an influence she always was to me. She made us all better people just by being in our lives and teaching us by her example. She made our path through life a little more bright and our burdens a little more light by sharing with us your wisdom and grace.
Grandma passed away Saturday February 7th just moments before her 100th birthday party. She lived a full and joyful life. She taught us the meaning of love and compassion. We will miss you Grandma. Thank you for all the memories you gave us. You will always be in our hearts.
